Final Fantasy: The Mists of Krystaria (OOC)

[The Jeffinator]

In an alternate Earth, a new continent has seemingly appeared out of nowhere, previously cloaked by magical barriers. The new land -- dubbed Krystaria -- is overflowing with a mist-like energy called Mako. This energy can be absorbed into crystals called Materia and used for a number of purposes, which has caused many travelers from around the world to swarm to Krystaria, some of them clashing with each other. Our characters find themselves at the center of these struggles.

This is an adaption of the Final Fantasy franchise as a whole, but the setting is strictly medieval fantasy/sword and sorcery, at least until someone discovers how to use Mako to fuel technology, which is then manipulated by the Shinra Family. As for characters, I would prefer originals, but am not completely opposed to one adapting existing characters to work in this world. Just throw your ideas my way.

The layout of Krystaria is still pretty primitive -- various travelers have camps scattered across the landscape, but no one has yet had the time to build permanent structures. The continent was only unveiled within the last few months, so most dwellings consist of tents or wagons carried over on ships. But as time goes on and Krystaria becomes the new capital of the world, the small camps will quickly grow into bustling cities. Mako will eventually fuel vehicles and airships and Magitek armor and energy cannons and electric power and computers and many other things. But this story starts at the beginning, before all that. Our characters are there for whatever reasons and help shape the future to come. The many different camps unite into various factions, and we will have to decide who will become our allies, and who will be our enemies.

While this story is focused on the beginning of the "Mako Rush," there is definitely the potential to jump forward to the descendants of our characters in a more modern setting once the current story has played itself out.

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http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o178/TheJeffinator/Cidchar1_zpsep9vwpu3.jpg

Name: Cidolphus "Cid" Garlond
Age: 28
Birthdate: Julis 30, 1820 AC (After Calamity)
Race: Human
Nationality: Garlean
Class: Rogue/Pugilist
Profession: Mako Hunter, Enchanter, Captain of the Red Wings (formerly)

Background

Cid was born to House Garlond, one of the noble families of the Garlean Empire. Due to him being the youngest of his siblings, he was unlikely to inherit any positions of significance, so it was decided from an early age that he would join the Imperial Legion. He was educated by a number of tutors and martial arts trainers from the time he could walk, and upon turning thirteen, was sent off to a remote military academy for further conditioning.

Cid spent three years at the Academy, excelling at close-quarters combat with or without weapons. Using the light traces of magic in his blood, he was able to channel Aether through his limbs to boost his speed, agility, physical senses, and overall awareness. At age sixteen, he left the Academy and became the apprentice of a wise military veteran -- Lord Gramis Solidor -- who pushed his training even farther. At age eighteen, Gramis recommended Cid to the Imperial Legion's flying chocobo team, the Red Wings. He passed the entrance exam and was granted his own young female chocobo, whom he named Aela.

Over the next ten years, Cid participated in a number of military operations with the Red Wings, moving his way up to Captain the year before the Mako Rush of 1848. By the time of the Rush, the other noble houses had grown wary of the power House Solidor was accumulating, and knew that because of Cid's close friendship with Lord Gramis, that the Red Wings were essentially loyal to House Solidor moreso than the Empire.

When the time came to stake a claim in the new land of Krystaria, the Emperor and the noble houses of the Imperial Senate voted to send House Solidor and the Red Wings to represent Imperial interests overseas. Thus, Cid boarded a ship bound for the new frontier.

 

[Lotus_Maiden]

Final Fantasy VII!!!!! Shinra boys. Sephiroth. Gaaaaaah...... *faints from excitement*

 

[Sean Renaud]

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd233/NakeBenihime/Aizen%20Sousuke/AizenSousuke22.jpg​

Name: Mikael "Chem" Tharn
Class: Engineer/Inventor
Combat Style: He doesn't like to fight, preferring instead to pass out his potions to his allies providing them with extra speed, strength and stamina. (depending on the FF it's either black or Grey magic. Stuff like Temper, Quick, Nul-whatever element we're up against.) but when forced he has a special potion that allows him to transform breifly into a monstrous state.

http://media.animevice.com/uploads/0/7711/241620-kishin_by_leouchyagami_super.png​

Name: Sheol
Class: Berserker
Combat Style: Mikeal's unlocked state fights barehanded. The longer he remains in the form of Sheol the faster, stronger and more aggressive he becomes. He is unaware of any upper limit to this transformation but what he does know is even at best he has a difficult time aiming Sheol in the direction of his enemies. Eventually the aggression always wins out.

 

[The Jeffinator]

So... What exactly does Mikael invent in these days before modern technology? I suppose he could be drawn to Krystaria with the intention to use Mako to fuel his inventions, and maybe hires our characters as bodyguards or something. My guy will probably be a mercenary battlemage.

 

[The Jeffinator]

Final Fantasy VII!!!!! Shinra boys. Sephiroth. Gaaaaaah...... *faints from excitement*

Haha. *helps her up, glancing inappropriately at her exposed cleavag*

 

[The Jeffinator]

Maybe Mikael is a student from an Alchemy Academy back home, and that's where he learned all about herbs and potions? Does he make them himself or does he purchase them?

 

[Sean Renaud]

So... What exactly does Mikael invent in these days before modern technology? I suppose he could be drawn to Krystaria with the intention to use Mako to fuel his inventions, and maybe hires our characters as bodyguards or something. My guy will probably be a mercenary battlemage.

Final Fantasy sword and sorcery tends to at the very least involve crossbows, catapults, drills and the such.

 

[The Jeffinator]

So were you thinking of having him be the medieval equivalent of Tony Stark? Maybe he is the one who invented the first repeating crossbow and has a design for a rapid-fire arrow cannon, but has been trying for years to get it to work. The biggest problem has been an energy source -- previously he has been limited to chemical reactions via explosive potions, but this just doesn't give the needed boost to power the machine. But now that Mako has been discovered, maybe he thinks he can use Materia crystals to power the cannon? And that leads him to develop other technologies and maybe our group eventually forms the Magitek Company and helps shape an Industrial Revolution in Krystaria. Our biggest competitor could be the Shinra Family in a Final Fantasy version of the back-and-forth between Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, and Andrew Carnegie, lol.

If we go that route, I may make my character a partner to yours, who compliments Mikael's abilities or something. Like if your character focuses on the tech side of things, maybe my guy is actually an arcane expert or something.

 

[Lotus_Maiden]

Where's there Shinra, there must be SOLDIER. You need SOLDIER. Looks at my cleavage and repeat after me, SOLDIER, SOLDIER, SOLDIER!

On a less fangirling note, we get to play the Shinra side too right? Or at very least, how they comes to power and monopolizes Mako. Or is this strictly travelers banding and fighting while narrating the rest of the event happening around them?

 

[The Jeffinator]

It's pretty much a free-for-all at first as many different factions try to lay claim to the new land, but eventually alliances are formed and a few truly powerful organizations appear. One of the biggest of these will be the Shinra Family and their associates, though I never really liked the name SOLDIER for the elite military forces. We could, however, say the Turks start out as a mercenary guild that is eventually hired exclusively to work for the Shinras, and they kind of form what will one day be elite forces.

Keep in mind, however, that since the setting starts off as a medieval fantasy, the type of technology seen in games like Final Fantasy VII and VIII won't appear for quite some time. In this world, science and technology will develop a lot faster than in our world, but we're still talking at least several generations. To put it in perspective, if we say Rufus Shinra lives in a time of electric powered homes and cars, then we can say his great grandfather is the head of the family during the early years of the Mako Rush in Krystaria. So, you can figure in at least a century for this world to go from Middles Ages, through the Industrial Revolution, to the Modern Age.

 

[The Jeffinator]

Hmmm. If I play Cid from Final Fantasy XIV, we could have our team form Garlond Ironworks. Check out the references to past FFs: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Garlond_Ironworks

Here's a video showing some of Cid's scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyvdiK-JTqA

And here's an epic video from the game showing a younger Cid and some of the other characters. FFXIV was a huge influence in me deciding to create this RP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HoAhGRZNJw

 

[Sean Renaud]

I guess mideval Toney Stark is one way of putting it, one that I would say is a bit overly generous. I was thinking a lot closer to some place between Cid of FF4, Edgard of FF6 and Setzer of FF6. Cid I guess is pretty damn close to that Tony Stark level but Edgar never even confirmed he could MAKE anything, only that he knew how to use it. (Like how I don't think Falcon or Warmachine could do much more than repair their armor, possibly modify it if push came to shove. I've never seen evidence that even Falcon who's clearly the smart one could build one from scratch even given the proper tools) and Setzer who I think it's clear knows enough about his airship to repair it. . .but when his gets broken he doesn't build one. And the tech in FF6 is clearly high enough the Empire tosses helicoptors and shit at you like candy, he goes and finds his girlfriend's one.

As for does he buy or make them, I assume a combination. He makes the transformation one but I'm willing to write that off as some sort of innate knowledge he just has. Kinda like how in some versions of Batman once you've been a Manbat once you instinctively know and seek out the chemicals to do it again. Just in his case either it was done to him very young and he doesn't remember or he's some sort of natural hybrid. Either way he just knows. The rest of the stuff he can make but probably prefers not to.

Again he's basically you Buff Mage which rarely happens in true FF. (Though when I played FF6 I intentionally segregated magic, Sabin knew every black spell, Cyan every Grey, Edgar every White and then whatever they accidentally picked up along the way.

 

[The Jeffinator]

So what do you think about me bringing in Cid and having our characters be partners and being the creators of Magitek and whatnot? Combat-wise, what weapons does Mikael use? I don't want to make Cid too similar to him.

 

[Sean Renaud]

I was thinking primarily a crossbow but he really prefers not to directly fight. Instead he spends most of his time making you guys better. And that's fine by me.

 

[The Jeffinator]

Okay, so if Mikael is Ranged DPS/Support, I'll make Cid either Melee DPS or Magic DPS, or some combination of the two. Maybe his goggles are crystal lenses that let him see the flow of Mako or Aether or something and he can channel that into physical blows, either through a bladed weapon or his fists. I'll think about it at work tonight and make up my character profile in the morning.

 

[Lachiyous]

...you're baccck. And channeling some hardcore Goofy action???

Aahahhah! I can kinda dig...

 

[The Jeffinator]

Huha! Gawrsh!

 

[Lachiyous]

!!!!!

I double-dog-dare "Sean_Renaud" to change his profile pic(icon) to Donald Duck -- I'll completely *LOSE* myself if you do!!!!!

Ahahaha!

 

[kittenofdeath]

So I have to ask these questions, otherwise they'll just eat away at me.

If the world is currently still in a medieval age, how was a new continent even noticed? Unless magic was already a thing and it was noticed by magical scrying voodoo or something, the only way to notice it would be a boat conveniently going past it, and even then it could be mistaken for just a much smaller land mass, or possibly a new continent unless it was an already mapped area. In which case, what happened prior to this point if someone sailed in to that spot, did they pass through the barrier, we're they destroyed is there some kind of mental effect that made everyone just avoid it? Is there some kind of Bermuda triangle style mythos surrounding this place and would there be shipwrecked people or communities there already.

On the note of inhabitants, are there natives or evidence of previous inhabitants in the form of fancy ruins containing miscellaneous loot? Who is there already and have they formed some kind of loose authority structure, or is it simply law dictated by might. Or have foreign governments moved in to start consolidating power there, is there a power struggle going on because of that which we can maybe influence with our actions?

Back to the shipping issues, because who doesn't love those, I assume ship is the main mode of transportation over sea, what's the rough travel time from wherever we're from. I ask because I'm curious about how many cycles of import/export have happened since, and how much Mako related things have filtered back, this is assuming any has occurred of course. That said, how pricey is such a trip in this world? Is it unlikely for a single man of little means to make the trip without being part of a larger company, to whom he would then be in debt to, or is a ticket the kind of thing you can win in a last minute poker game all Titanic style?


Sorry if that got a bit much, I occasionally over think things.

 

[Sean Renaud]

That's it!

http://1d4chan.org/images/e/ea/Rockfall.jpg

 

[The Jeffinator]

When the Veil hiding Krystaria crumbled, there was a massive disturbance in the Aether flow of the world, which would have been felt by the elder mages of the world. We'll say Mako is a condensed version of Aether that does not occur outside Krystaria. For this reason, some ancient gods/dragons/sages/whatever sealed it off from the world, because the great demons of the past were mages who were corrupted by Dark Mako and summoned evil spirits into their bodies or something. Until the Veil fell, space was folded around Krystaria, so anyone sailing in that area would go right through it as if it wasn't there.

As to how the Veil fell, we'll say one of the ancient beings turned the others to stone and ripped down the Veil, knowing it would draw people in and then he could try and corrupt them with Dark Mako. And no, there are no intelligent inhabitants on the continent beyond tiny faeries/sprites. There are, however, native animals there.

As for how people got there, yeah, they would come in sea ships. One might have a flying chocobo, but it would likely be unable to fly all the way there. Most travelers without their own money would have been employed by others and came that way.

 

[The Jeffinator]

We'll also say that natural magic is somewhat rare, and those few that can sense the Aether take many years to master the mystic arts. But now, with the emergence of Mako, anyone can use magic if they use Materia as a focus.

 

[The Jeffinator]

Okay, posted some of my character in my first post, but had to do some IRL stuff and didn't get around to writing out his background. More to come soon.

 

[The Jeffinator]

Sorry, a lot going in these last few days. Helping my dad with stuff in addition to working, plus our garbage disposal stopped working and the sink is leaking, so been trying to work with the maintenance guy at our apartment complex to get it fixed. But first, before we called him, we had to bust ass and get our apartment spotless -- we had been neglecting the cleaning more than we should have, lol. My hope is that by Monday morning I'll have my character completed and the IC up and ready to go. Though, we still don't have any guaranteed characters besides Mikael and Cid, but I'm assuming people are waiting until I have my character and the IC up before posting their character ideas.

 

[The Jeffinator]

Okay, was working out details for my character and the world, and I'm making some slight changes that I think are really interesting. First off, I've changed why Krystaria was sealed off and his it was "opened" again -- Jenova. She was called the Dark Dragon Queen in ancient times, until the Guardians of Light came together and encased her in a crystal prison in her lair on Krystaria and erected numerous magical barriers around the island, hiding it from the rest of the world. Now, many centuries later, she has started to awaken, but only gradually. Her mind was conscious enough to reach out and rip open the Veil, but so far her body is still imprisoned. Her levels of consciousness shift, and she falls in and out of slumber. Once she was awake enough to open the Veil, she mentally exhausted herself and is currently unconscious again. At some point after our characters arrive in Krystaria, she will gradually awaken again and begin reaching out to corrupt those who will become her "children," who will inevitably attempt to free their "mother."

After sealing Jenova away, the Guardians destroyed any knowledge of her, overconfident in the Veil's ability to hold her forever. So now, centuries later, no one knows who or what Jenova is. The only knowledge of her is in her lair and her memories, and perhaps the spirits of the long-dead Guardians.